The Diary of Connie Brown
by cimbetau
Summary: This is a journal written from the point of view of a convict on the first fleet...
1. Chapter 1

**12****th**** February 1787**

**My name is Connie Brown, I have lived in England my whole life with my younger sister and 5 older brothers; my parents had been sentenced to death 3 years ago for stealing food . I worked as an apprentice to a tailor and earned two shillings a week; but it wasn't enough and I always had to steal food to help feed the family. For six months I got away with it but then one day they caught me; like my parents before me I was sentenced to death. **

**I had to wait for 3 weeks before I was to be hanged. Through out that time I was forced to work in a factory near the prison. The week before my hanging the judge who had sentenced me was inspecting the prisoners working at the factory, I heard him mention to the guard 'transportation' and 'the need for tough prisoners' he walked past me and sadly at that point I had to be carrying a sack of coal (which looked a lot heavier then it was) he took one look at me and said "Her as well". I was shackled and my leg was chained to a group of seven other prisoners and we were marched out of the factory and down the main street in the direction of the pier.**

**It suddenly dawned on me that there was a chance that I was going to be transported; I wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad. I mean on one hand I wasn't being killed but on the other hand I would never see my family again and I hadn't even got a chance to say goodbye. I hung my head and kept walking in the direction of the sea and whatever fate awaited me there…**


	2. Chapter 2

**14****th**** March 1787**

**Well, my fears were confirmed I am being transported. I am on a huge ship full of people there are at least 24 people locked in the same cell as me. I was allowed to take three things with me before I was put on the ship; considering I didn't own much I didn't really have much to choose from so I took: my mothers ring, and a pen and paper so I can hopefully write home to my family. I have only been here a week and I have already made a friend on the ship her name is Louise Rewan, she was arrested for killing a dog out of self defence but the owner of the dog said she had killed it for food and she was sentenced to 7 years transportation.**

**I told her what I had done and that I was sentenced to death but got picked to be transported because I looked strong; she laughed at that. **

**After I had told her that she said "So you could have been dead right now if that man hadn't noticed you?" **

"**Oh, well I'd never thought about it like that" **

"**Well, how do you see it?" she asked me. **

"**Well, I mean I had always seen it as that man took me away from my family, I mean I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye; at least if I had got hanged I would have been able to say goodbye to my brothers and sisters the day before the hanging".**

"**You realise that wouldn't have happened, don't you?" she said with a concerned look on her face**

"**What do you mean I wouldn't have been able to say goodbye?!" **

"**They just tell you that to stop you rioting; I bet they said to you if you ****behave**** you'll get to say goodbye to your family".**

**I thought back to the day I was sentenced, "I had been so scared that day" I told Louise "I guess I didn't really pay attention to what the guard said when he threw me into the cell he'd said "Don't make a mess and don't cause a fuss….". Then I remembered the last part of what he'd said "He also added "Or you won't get to say goodbye to your family" I finished talking and just stood there silently, a tear ran down my cheek and I hung my head. Louise told me it would be ok and not to show weakness. I wiped away the tear and lifted my head up a defiant look on my face "I'll be ok I told her"; she said she had to leave for washing duty and quickly hurried off; I was left alone I'll be ok I whispered to my self but as I said it a feeling of despair washed through me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**12****th**** August 1787**

**We have been heading for the new land for 3 months now, we stopped in June at a place called Teneriffe and we stayed there for approximately 8 days and got more supplies. The conditions on the ship are fairly good so far one person has died, but he was shot by a guard for trying to escape while we were at Teneriffe. Louise and I have been given cooking duties so we get extra supplies of food. At the moment we are in Rio De Janeiro, its really hot and horrible on the ship and we aren't allowed out because of the man that tried to escape when we first stopped. The guards are bringing the supplies on to the ship this time due to the fact we can't leave the ship and they are not happy about it. One of the guards actually said "So what if they try to escape again we'll just shoot them like before and that means more food for me!" **

**The guard leading the group turned and looked at the guard and grunted "Us". **

**The guard that had spoken mumbled "Yeah us". **

**One of the Guards then said "It's lucky they don't know about the other six that died when we were coming here"**

**I looked at Louise she had a very shocked look on her face; the guard that seemed to be his leader looked at him and grumbled "Be quiet! They might hear you".**

"**Oh, right" said the guard and continued loading the ship.**

**They finished loading the ship and these workers came to repair the ship, which was a good thing because a lot of the walls had gaps in them where water was coming through. The workers approached the hole in the ship nearest to me and Louise; "Hello" I whispered to him.**

**He looked up at me but did not reply, he just continued what he was doing; Louise came over and said to him "Hello?" **

**The man looked at her and said "No sé hablar ingles"**

"**Oh" said Louise she turned to me and said "I think he may have said I can't speak English" **

"**Well that explains a lot" I said to her; I turned to the man and smiled at him he signalled behind me and a guard was standing there waiting for us to go up to the galley. I looked back at where the man had been working but he'd left I turned and followed Louise up the stairs.**


	4. Chapter 4

**14****th**** October 1787**

**The smell of damp rotting wood is penetrating my nostrils; there is a feeling of despair which floods the entire ship. The guards here are such pigs they spit at us as they walk by and taunt us like we are animals locked in cages. We just arrived in a place called Cape of Good Hope, yeah right; since we arrived things have just gotten worse. 20 people are sick and according to rumours seven people have died things are just getting worse and worse. The guards are getting angry because they have to do most of the work of loading the ship and they absolutely loathe us for it. A girl was raped by one of the guards, Louise and I didn't see it happen but you could hear her screams from the other end of the ship. Apparently a couple of the men had decided to stop the guard and had ended up killing the guard when they had thrown him against the side of the ship; the two men were whipped to death and thrown over board. Ever since then the guards have been riotous and you can hear them arguing with each other and the captain. Louise and I have been taken off of cooking duty and are made to stay in our cells; so the guards don't have to come on the lower decks and we don't have to go higher. **

**The smell is awful and people are getting diseases from the lack of hygiene. I fear for mine and Louise's lives but cannot say or do anything about it; Louise appears to be getting sick and I fear for her life. I must remain strong and pray we reach New Holland soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**22****nd**** July 1788**

**We arrived in New Holland about six months ago; it was so nice to get off the ship and into the sunlight and fresh air. When I stepped off the ship I took a deep breath and let the clean fresh air rush through my nostrils and into my lungs. There was a mad rush off the ship and in the confusion I lost Louise; it took a week to set up a simple camp for all the settlers and convicts. After the camp was set up I searched for Louise for two days I searched and searched but could not find her anywhere. At night I would lie awake wondering where she was and why couldn't I find her. On the third day I decided to look in the hospital, remembering Louise had not been looking well when we arrived. I walked through the door of the hospital tent; it was the largest tent in the camp and it was full of sick convicts and a couple of guards that had hurt them selves during the voyage. I scanned the tent looking for Louise; I found her on the far side of the tent she was lying on a small mattress and she looked very pale. I rushed over to her and knelt by her side "Louise are you ok?" a tear rushed down my cheek as she opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. **

**She swallowed and said "Yeah, I'm ok". **

"**What's wrong? Why are you in here?" I questioned.**

"**They told me I got dehydrated, so I have to rest and drink lots of water" She said.**

"**So you're going to be ok?" I asked with a hopeful smile on my face.**

"**Yeah, yeah I am" she replied.**

**I stood outside a small wooden cabin the breeze lightly blowing through my hair I turned to my right and smiled, Louise smiled back at me. We have both been set up with a lovely family of settlers that treat us well; they have lovely children that we tell stories to. The work is fair and not very hard, it is much better then being on the ship or in a makeshift prison and it smells a lot better to. Louise and I have both decided to stay here once our sentence is over, we have gotten used to the weather and it is much warmer here then in England. Also neither of us has any money to pay for the journey back to England. **

**I heard our master call us and we had to go and prepare lunch. I thought back to the day I met Louise and she had said I'd be ok; at the time I hadn't believed her but I'm certain we are both going to be ok. **


	6. Chapter 6

**3****rd**** January 1798**

**10 years later**

**Well, it's been ten years since I stole a loaf of bread, got arrested and sentenced to death, by a chance of fate didn't get killed and got transported, I met my best friend Louise Rewan, by some miracle I managed to survive the one year journey from England to New Holland and I wound up with the best family of settlers you could hope for. During years that have passed Louise and I were both freed and we found a lovely place to live in a small village, Louise met a man called Devan Ross who she is now married to, I opened a small market which sells vegetables, fish and breads. So all in all my life turned out very good and I couldn't really wish for it to be better. Though sometimes I do wonder what happened to my family back in England; I wonder if they're still alive or if they still think about me. But I could drive myself nuts wondering about them so I try not to think about it too often, maybe one day I will see them again who knows.**


End file.
